Wrestling Federation of India face heat as United World Wrestling ask national federations to stop communication

Indian wrestlers had put up an impressive show at the just-concluded Dan Kolov event in Bulgaria. (Photo: Sports Jiss)

Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) received a major setback after The United World Wrestling (UWW) has asked all the national federations under it to stop communication with the body in the wake of visa denial of Pakistani shooters in the recent World Cup.

Speaking to PTI, WFI source said the UWW has written a letter to all the affiliated and associated national wrestling federations to suspended their discussions or relations with the Indian wrestling federation. Neither WFI President Brij Bhusan Sharan nor Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar could be reached for comments.

The UWW order is likely to affect India’s chances of hosting any international event in the near future and the participation of Indian wrestlers. (Photo: Facebook

The denial of visa to Pakistani shooters had led to the International Olympic Committee suspending discussions with India for hosting future global events. India denied visas to Pakistani shooters for the World Cup in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, which killed 40 CRPF personnel. As a result, the IOC revoked the two Olympic quotas on offer in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol competition of the event.

It remains to be seen to what extent the UWW decision would affect Indian wrestlers. At the just-concluded Dan Kolov event in Bulgaria, Indian wrestlers had put up an impressive show as they won two gold and two silver medals. Bajrang Punia and Pooja Dhanda won gold while Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat settled for silver medals.